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HERITAGE: Ancient craft of lace-making

The dying craft of Sri Lanka’s beeralu lace-making is linked to the Malays, writes Tuan M. Zameer Careem

THE ancient craft of making beeralu lace was introduced to Sri Lanka during the colonial times. Today, it is a cottage industry that has received worldwide recognition.

This craft is practised by a handful of highly skilled women from Sri Lanka’s coastal villages of Galle, Matara, Makuluwa, Gandara, Dikwella, Kottegoda, in addition to Mirissa, Magalle and Weligama in the southern province.

Locals and foreign tourists flock to these villages in large numbers to watch the women work a set of wooden spindle-shaped bobbins on a special white pillow, with incredible speed to create the delicate lace.

This intricate art is physically taxing on the eyes and requires great level of patience and clarity. This was the main reason why this exotic craft nearly died out in the late 20th century.

THE MALAY FACTOR

The Portuguese were credited with introducing the craft to Sri Lanka but a recent study revealed an interesting fact about its actual history.

The local term for lace is renda, a Portuguese loan word in Sinhala language. The Sinhala word beeralu is derived from the Portuguese words bilrof or biralureinda. This is why the Portuguese has been credited with introducing beeralu lace-making in Sri Lanka.

However, it is worth noting that in Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian archipelago, lace is also known locally as “renda”. When the Portuguese settled in Malacca and Indonesian Moluccas archipelago in the early 16th century, they were believed to have introduced this extraordinarily laborious craft.

This was the same period that the maritime provinces of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) came under Portuguese rule. Though the Portuguese were credited with having introduced beeralu, it was a local minority, the Sri Lankan Malays, who introduced variants of crotchet work and beeralu lace weaving in Sri Lanka. Their ancestors came from the Indonesian Archipelago and Malaya.

History has it that the Sri Lankan Malays also introduced batik, sarong, some styles of jewellery making, the wearing of Batavian combs and so on in Sri Lanka.

The Portuguese colonists brought their women-folk with them when they settled in Malacca and in Indonesia. Historic texts confirmed that European presence in the region promoted this decorative craft among the elite class of Malay and Indonesian women who spent time in the company of Europeans.

The ancestors of the Malays in Sri Lanka comprised political exiles, royalty, courtiers and their entourage. Their antecedents and settlement in Dutch Ceylon confirmed that it was the Malays who introduced beeralu lace-making in Sri Lanka.

Research has confirmed that the Nilama dress worn by the custodian of the Kandy Temple Of Tooth has several Malay, Javanese and Southeast Asian features.

Meanwhile, the seven-looped chain, the padakkama-pendant, the dagger, the tuppodiya-tippotiya, the long white muslin cloth tied repeatedly in folds around the waist of the Kandyan aristocratic men and the white trousers with frills at its end, are just some notable examples.

Local Sinhalese women wear a special white blouse (called ja hatte by the locals,) trimmed with renda lace. The word ja is used to refer to the Javanese as the Malays are known as Ja Minussu (Javanese people), even to this day.

The Malays have, over the centuries, used renda to embellish the borders, frills and collars of the kebaya. Beeralu lace-making is still practised in the southern coastal provinces and there is plenty of evidence to show that the Malays had settled in the coastal belt since the eighth century AD.

The etymology of anchorages such as Hambanthota, Jagama, Sammanthurai etc. have unmistakable Malay influences which further validate the claim. The Portuguese did not bring their women folk to Ceylon, so it was clear that beeralu lace-making was introduced there by Malay women who had learnt the art from the Europeans. Unfortunately, the Malays who introduced this ancient craft did not preserve nor promote the craft among members of its community, so the art of beeralu has lost its place among the present generation Malays.

THROUGH THE YEARS

At present beeralu lace production is a booming industry in southern Sri Lanka. There has been an unexpected revival of the traditional art of late and the Sri Lankan government has drawn several initiatives to promote the craft as a source of income for artisan women in coastal villages.

It is now incorporated in Lankan couture and beeralu lace prom dresses, gowns and lace-inspired sarees help exemplify the influence of renda in the country’s fashion industry. Renda lace-inspired jewellery is much sought after by local fashionistas. In recent years, local jewellery stores have also promoted the designing and the incorporation of beeralu-inspired gold and diamond jewellery in Sri Lanka and abroad.

It has been nearly four centuries since the Portuguese left Ceylon but beeralu lace or renda making has survived to this day despite the turbulence in Sri Lanka’s history. Suffice to say, it definitely holds a special place in the hearts of the locals.

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